Cartoon – Model Interpretation

How would you inter­pret the fol­lo­wing car­toon? (If you don’t know what to do, stu­dy my ins­truc­tions.)

In my opi­ni­on the car­toon is sup­po­sed to cri­ti­ci­ze Donald Trump stron­gly. The fact that he is depic­ted as a Nean­der­thal man with a club con­veys that he is a pri­mi­ti­ve, bru­tal and vul­gar man. His stu­pid facial expres­si­on tog­e­ther with his ridi­cu­lous hair rein­force this impression.

The fact that he drags along the Sta­tue of Liber­ty can be inter­pre­ted in dif­fe­rent ways. On the one hand this con­tri­bu­tes to his pri­mi­ti­ve­ness becau­se the com­mon cli­ché says that stone age men drag­ged women into their caves. On a second level it refers to the “locker room talk” scan­dal and the alle­ga­ti­ons that Trump has repea­ted­ly gro­ped, haras­sed and even assaul­ted women. On a third level the Sta­tue of Liber­ty is a sym­bol of the US and espe­ci­al­ly of Ame­ri­can values and tra­di­ti­ons. In her hand she holds a tablet with the date of the Decla­ra­ti­on of Inde­pen­dence [see this pho­to]. The most important docu­ment of Ame­ri­can histo­ry says for exam­p­le “that all men are crea­ted equal” and have a right to “life, liber­ty and the pur­su­it of hap­pi­ness”. When Trump calls for exam­p­le Mexi­cans “rapists” and Mus­lims “ter­ro­rists” he shows that he doesn’t share cen­tral Ame­ri­can values.